IIoT-Based Remote Monitoring System for Temperature, Current, and Vibration Using PLC and Node-RED in a Data Center Cooling Compressor: A Condition-Based Maintenance Framework

Climate control systems are critical to ensuring the continuous operation of data centers, as they maintain the environmental conditions required by sensitive electronic equipment. In this context, continuous supervision of refrigeration compressors is essential to prevent failures that may compromise thermal stability. This work presents the design, implementation, and experimental validation of a remote monitoring and condition-based maintenance framework built on Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies for air-conditioning compressors used in data centers. The proposed architecture integrates industrial-grade sensors for temperature, electric current, and vibration, a Siemens LOGO! programmable logic controller (PLC) for signal acquisition and scaling, a Node-RED middleware layer for data flow management, and the ThingSpeak cloud platform for remote storage and analysis. The novel contributions of this work are: (i) a fully integrated low-cost IIoT stack validated on a Copeland ZR144KCE-TF5 scroll compressor under real operating conditions over a continuous 49-day monitoring period; (ii) a hybrid anomaly detection model that combines Z-score statistical baselines with moving-average prediction error to reduce false positives from transient events; and (iii) a condition-based maintenance decision framework that maps the three monitored variables to ISO 10816-3 vibration severity zones and manufacturer-referenced thermal and electrical thresholds, producing recommended maintenance actions. The framework was applied to the acquired dataset, confirming predominantly stable operation (93.4% of samples in ISO 10816-3 Zones A–B) while detecting an emergent mechanical-wear trend (5.64% of samples in Zone C) concentrated in the final days of the monitoring period and demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed architecture as a scalable and replicable solution for condition monitoring and maintenance decision support in critical technological infrastructures.